Commissioning for quality and innovation (CQUIN): 2014/15 guidance. February 2014

Transcription

1 Commissioning for quality and innovation (CQUIN): 2014/15 guidance February

2 NHS England INFORMATION READER BOX Directorate Medical Operations Patients and Information Nursing Policy Commissioning Development Finance Human Resources Publications Gateway Reference: Document Purpose Document Name Author Publication Date Target Audience Guidance Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN): 2014/15 guidance NHS England / Commissioning Policy and Primary Care / Commissioning Policy and Resources February 2014 CCG Clinical Leaders, CCG Chief Officers, Care Trust CEs, Foundation Trust CEs, Medical Directors, Directors of Nursing, NHS England Regional Directors, NHS England Area Directors, Directors of Finance, NHS Trust CEs Additional Circulation List Medical Directors, NHS England Regional Directors, NHS England Area Directors, Communications Leads Description Cross Reference Superseded Docs (if applicable) Action Required The CQUIN framework aims to support operational improvements in the quality of services, whilst creating new, improved patterns of care. This document is for commissioners and providers who will be using the CQUIN framework in 2014/15. It provides an overview of the financial framework for 2014/15, sets out the rules for CQUIN variations, provides detailed guidance on the national goals for 2014/15 and offers advice for those developing local CQUIN goals. NHS Standard Contract 2014/15 Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN): 2014/15 guidance issued December 2013 Best practice Timing / Deadlines (if applicable) Contact Details for further information Document Status 0 NA nhscb.contractshelp@nhs.net Commissioning Policy and Primary Care 4E44 Quarry House Quarry Hill Leeds, LS2 7UE 0 This is a controlled document. Whilst this document may be printed, the electronic version posted on the intranet is the controlled copy. Any printed copies of this document are not controlled. As a controlled document, this document should not be saved onto local or network drives but should always be accessed from the intranet 2

3 Commissioning for quality and innovation (CQUIN): 2014/15 guidance First published: December 2013 Updated: February

4 Contents 1. Introduction 5 2. Financial framework 6 3. CQUIN variation 8 4. National CQUINs Friends and Family Test NHS Safety Thermometer Dementia and delirium Improving physical healthcare to reduce premature mortality in people with severe mental illness (SMI) Local CQUIN goals and indicators 45 Appendix A Publication template for CQUIN variation Appendix B CQUIN template (separate Excel file) Appendix C Template for indicators for local CQUINs Appendix D Summary of changes made between the December 2013 and February 2014 versions of this guidance 4

5 1. Introduction The 2014/15 National Tariff Payment System document published by Monitor and NHS England sets out the key challenges for next year, both for providers and for commissioners, in improving quality and outcomes for patients whilst keeping within a fixed NHS budget by improving productivity. The approach to national tariff rules is designed to give commissioners and providers clear principles and consistent incentives to innovate locally. The key aim of the Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) framework for 2014/15 is to support improvements in the quality of services and the creation of new, improved patterns of care. It is intended to complement our approach to the payment system, providing a coherent set of national rules. This approach is consistent with the conclusions from NHS England s review of incentives, rewards and sanctions, based on the principle of a national default position, but with freedom, support and encouragement for genuine innovation. CQUIN monies should be used to incentivise providers to deliver quality and innovation improvements over and above the baseline requirements set out in the NHS Standard Contract, whether this be incremental improvement or radical service redesign. Commissioners should plan to make challenging but realistic CQUIN schemes available for providers, so that there is an expectation that a high proportion of commissioner CQUIN funding will be earned by providers in-year. Commissioners should plan to spend their CQUIN monies and target their efforts at a small number of high impact goals, with a recommended maximum of ten local CQUIN goals per contract. This document is for commissioners and providers who will be using the CQUIN framework in 2014/15. It provides an overview of the financial framework for 2014/15, sets out the rules for CQUIN variations, provides detailed guidance on the national goals for 2014/15 and offers advice for those developing local CQUIN goals. There will be no innovation pre-qualification criteria for 2014/15. NHS England is firmly committed to supporting the full implementation of the recommendations set out in Innovation, Health and Wealth: Accelerating Adoption and Diffusion in the NHS, but believes that this can best be addressed for the future through ongoing contracting discussions between commissioners and providers. Specifically, providers will be required, as part of their NHS Standard Contract, to agree an action plan for innovation during 2014/15. Full details of the contractual requirements in this respect can be found in the NHS Standard Contract 2014/15 and supporting guidance. If you have any queries regarding the content of this guidance, please contact nhscb.contractshelp@nhs.net. 5

6 2. Financial framework CQUIN for 2014/15 is set at a level of 2.5 per cent value for all healthcare services commissioned through the NHS Standard Contract, excluding high cost drugs, devices and listed procedures 1. As a minimum, one fifth of this value (0.5 per cent of overall contract value) is to be linked to the national CQUIN goals, where these apply, but commissioners may decide to link a higher proportion of CQUIN value to national goals. The full year financial value of a CQUIN scheme should be calculated as a percentage of the full year value for all healthcare services commissioned through the NHS Standard Contract, excluding high cost drugs, devices and listed procedures. Providers should only be paid where they have achieved the agreed CQUIN goals. CQUIN payments should be made to providers in accordance with the detail set out in the NHS Standard Contract. Commissioners must set out clearly in contracts the proportion of payment associated with each CQUIN indicator and the basis upon which payment will be made. CQUIN monies remain non-recurrent, but where commissioners wish to implement multi-year schemes to support longer term service redesign they can do so, in accordance with the CQUIN variation rules set out in section 3 below. Non-participation in any applicable national CQUIN scheme should result in nonpayment of that proportion of CQUIN funding, except where this is agreed as a CQUIN variation, in accordance with the rules set out in section 3 below. All providers should have the opportunity to earn CQUIN payments, regardless of how small the value of their contract is. We recognise, however, that it may not always be a good use of time for commissioners and providers to develop and agree detailed CQUIN schemes for very low-value contracts. At their sole discretion, therefore, commissioners may choose simply to pay the CQUIN value to providers where the 2.5 per cent CQUIN value would be non-material, rather than develop a specific CQUIN scheme. Services to which no national CQUIN indicators apply will typically be covered by local prices rather than mandatory national tariffs. We recognise that, particularly where a competitive procurement approach has been used, commissioners may choose, as an explicit part of setting a local price for a contract, to create a broader local incentive scheme, incorporating CQUIN but linking a higher proportion of contract value (above the 2.5 per cent envisaged in CQUIN) to agreed quality and outcome measures, rather than activity levels. This is a legitimate approach, and there is no requirement in this situation for the commissioner to offer a further 2.5 per cent CQUIN scheme to the provider, on top of the agreed local price. Commissioners should make this clear from the outset. 1 As defined in Annex 7B of The 2014/15 National Tariff Payment System. 6

7 CQUIN payments can be earned on Non-Contract Activity (NCA). NCA billing arrangements are not intended as a routine alternative to formal contracting, but for use where there are small, unpredictable flows of patient activity delivered by a provider which is geographically distant from the commissioner. The terms of the provider s CQUIN scheme with its main commissioner will be deemed to apply to any NCA activity it carries out. Providers will need to supply reasonable evidence to NCA commissioners of achievement of CQUIN goals. (Detailed arrangements for noncontract activity are set out in Who Pays? Determining responsibility for payments to providers

8 3. CQUIN variation 3.1 Principles Where commissioners and providers are seeking to radically change or improve services, through innovative contracting and payment models, the national CQUIN rules or national goals may not be appropriate for local circumstances. For example, commissioners and providers may be trying to implement a new service delivery model based on a package of care for a cohort of service users. In this case, an innovative outcome-based payment approach might be more appropriate than the use of separate CQUIN payments to incentivise improvement, or it might best be supported through multi-year CQUINs. The NHS Standard Contract will permit such variations, provided commissioners and providers apply the following three principles: The variation is in the best interests of patients. It will support the development of new and innovative service delivery models which are in the best interests of patients today and in the future. It will create a more effective incentive for the provider(s) to achieve the desired outcomes for patients. The variation promotes transparency to improve accountability and encourage sharing of best practice. It must be documented in the NHS Standard Contract using the summary template provided at Appendix A below, and submitted to: england.cquinvariation@nhs.net. Submissions will be published. Providers must still use all reasonable endeavours to improve services in line with national CQUIN goals and must continue to collect and submit any mandated data returns, including for example for the NHS Safety Thermometer and the Friends and Family Test. Commissioners and providers must engage constructively with each other when seeking to agree variations. This process should involve clinicians, patient groups and other relevant stakeholders where possible. Providers and commissioners should agree short and long-term objectives for service improvement and a framework for agreeing variations, including the sharing of information and whether other stakeholders will be involved in making decisions on the variation. CQUIN variations can be agreed between one or more commissioners and one or more providers. CQUIN variations only have effect for the services specified in the agreement and for the parties to that agreement. We encourage agreements by multiple commissioners, or a lead commissioner acting on behalf of multiple commissioners and multiple providers acting to provide integrated care services that benefit patients. Operating multiple CQUIN schemes for different commissioners within the same contract is unlikely to be workable and we therefore recommend that any CQUIN variation applies at the whole contract level, rather than to individual commissioners only. A CQUIN variation can be agreed for more than one year, although the duration must not be longer than the duration of the relevant contract. Where agreements are 8

9 for longer than one year, commissioners and providers will have to consider the potential for changes to the national pricing and incentive rules and agree how they would handle any multi-year CQUINs should this occur. For example, the overall percentage of contract value associated with CQUIN could go up or down. Parties would wish to agree whether this would result in a corresponding increase or decrease in the amount paid to the provider and whether there should be any sharing of potential risks associated with future changes. 9

10 4. National CQUINs As a minimum, 0.5 per cent of the value for all healthcare services commissioned through the NHS Standard Contract is to be linked to the national CQUIN goals, where these apply, but commissioners may decide to link a higher proportion of CQUIN value to national goals. There are four national CQUIN goals for 2014/15: Friends and Family Test where commissioners will be empowered to incentivise high performing providers. Improvement against the NHS Safety Thermometer, particularly pressure ulcers. Improving dementia and delirium care, including sustained improvement in Finding people with dementia, Assessing and Investigating their symptoms and Referring for support (FAIR). Improving diagnosis in mental health where providers will be rewarded for better assessing and treating the mental and physical needs of their service users. If all four national goals apply to the provider, each should attract a minimum of per cent (split across any sub-indicators as set out in the indicator-specific guidance). If some, but not all of the national goals apply, each should attract a minimum of per cent, but at the commissioner s discretion they may choose to split the whole 0.5 per cent identified for national indicators evenly across those indicators that apply. If no national goals apply, the whole of the 2.5 per cent should be based on local indicators. National CQUIN goals apply equally to services commissioned by NHS England and by CCGs using the NHS Standard Contract. The table below sets out the contract types to which national CQUIN goals apply. 10

11 National CQUIN Scheme Acute services providers Community services providers & care homes Ambulance services providers Mental health providers Friends and Family Test (community services only) NHS Safety Thermometer 3 n/a Dementia and delirium n/a n/a n/a Improving physical healthcare to reduce premature mortality in people with severe mental illness (SMI) n/a n/a n/a Templates for the national CQUINs are available as Word documents on the NHS England website. 3 Some elements of the NHS Safety Thermometer only apply to certain contracts. This is set out in detail in the guidance at: pdf. 11

12 5. Friends and Family Test GOAL: To improve the experience of patients in line with Domain 4 of the NHS Outcomes Framework. The Friends and Family Test will provide timely, granular feedback from patients about their experience. In the first six months of use, the Friends and Family test gathered almost one million responses; by contrast, in the 2012 inpatient survey, 64,500 patients were asked for feedback. INDICATORS: The CQUIN will be structured according to the type of provider. For acute providers, funding will be given for three elements: 1. Further implementation of patient FFT and staff FFT. a. 30 per cent of the funding for implementation of the staff FFT across the provider, as specified in the national guidance, from April b. 15 per cent of the funding for early implementation of the patient FFT in outpatient and day case departments, as specified in the national guidance, by 1 October per cent of the funding for increasing and or maintaining response rates in A&E and inpatient areas. The response rates for A&E and inpatient departments will be monitored as separate elements and will not be combined, but payment of this CQUIN element will be dependent upon achievement in both areas, as follows: a. for increasing or maintaining response rates in acute inpatient services. Providers will need to achieve either: i. a baseline response rate in Q1 of at least 25 per cent and by Q4 a response rate that is both (a) higher than the response rate for Q1 and (b) 30 per cent or over; or ii. maintaining a response rate that is over 30 per cent. b. for increasing or maintaining response rates in A&E. Providers will need to achieve either: i. a baseline response rate of at least 15 per cent and by Q4 a response rate that is both (a) higher than the response rate for Q1 and (b) 20 per cent or over; or ii. maintaining a response rate that is over 20 per cent. 4 CQUIN indicator 1a is only applicable to NHS Trusts in 2014/15. Non NHS Trusts are not required to implement the Friends and Family Test for staff in 2014/15. 12

13 3. 40 per cent of the funding for further increasing response rates within inpatient services. The CQUIN payment to be triggered if the provider achieves a response rate of 40% or more for the month of March For mental health, community services providers and ambulance trusts, funding will be given for one element: 1. Further implementation of patient FFT and staff FFT. a. 30 per cent of the funding for implementation of the staff FFT across the provider, as specified in the national guidance, from April b. 40 per cent of the funding for early implementation of the patient FFT, by 1 October 2014: half of this funding will be available for partial implementation (to be defined in further guidance) and the full funding for full implementation. c. 30 per cent of the funding for full implementation of patient FFT in accordance with the national timetable DATA SOURCE: 1a - A one-off return from providers to local commissioners on the position at end of June b - A one-off return from providers to local commissioners on the position at end of October c - A one-off return from providers to local commissioners on the position at: end of December 2014 for mental health and community health providers end of March 2015 for ambulance service providers 2 and 3 - Providers of NHS funded services will provide data on Friends and Family Test results through the UNIFY2 central data collection system. NEXT STEPS FOR PROVIDERS AND COMMISSIONERS: Commissioners will need to be assured that their providers are on track to have fully implemented the staff Friends and Family Test from 1 April Providers will need to ensure that they can provide staff Friends and Family results from 1 July 2014 at the latest that meet the national guidance. Commissioners and providers will need to put in place implementation plans for rolling out the patient Friends and Family Test to other areas during 2014/15. Providers will need to ensure that they can provide patient Friends and Family results from 1 October 2014 as per the national guidance (for indicator 1b). 5 CQUIN indicator 1a is only applicable to NHS Trusts in 2014/15. Non NHS Trusts are not required to implement the Friends and Family Test for staff in 2014/15. 13

14 SUPPORTING INFORMATION: National guidance on the Friends and Family Test published by NHS England is available at Any enquiries can be directed to: 14

15 CQUIN TEMPLATES FRIENDS AND FAMILY TEST IMPLEMENTATION OF STAFF FFT - NHS TRUSTS ONLY Indicator number 1a Indicator name Indicator weighting (% of CQUIN scheme available) Description of indicator Numerator Denominator Rationale for inclusion Data source Friends and Family Test Implementation of Staff FFT <commissioner to complete minimum % of contract value> Implementation of staff FFT as per guidance, according to the national timetable National CQUIN scheme Local provider response to local commissioners Frequency of data collection Check on implementation at end of June 2014 Organisation responsible for data Provider collection Frequency of reporting to One off commissioner Baseline period/date Baseline value Final indicator period/date (on which payment is based) Final indicator value (payment threshold) Final indicator reporting date Are there rules for any agreed in-year milestones that result in payment? Are there any rules for partial achievement of the indicator at the final indicator period/date? Q1 2014/15 Provider to demonstrate to commissioner that staff FFT has been delivered across all staff groups as outlined in guidance Response from providers to commissioners by 30 June 2014 Funding payable once June 2014 indicator achieved 15

16 FRIENDS AND FAMILY TEST: EARLY IMPLEMENTATION Indicator number Indicator name Indicator weighting (% of CQUIN scheme available) Description of indicator Numerator Denominator Rationale for inclusion Data source Frequency of data collection Organisation responsible for data collection Frequency of reporting to commissioner Baseline period/date Baseline value Final indicator period/date (on which payment is based) Final indicator value (payment threshold) Rules for calculation of payment due at final indicator period/date (including evidence to be supplied to commissioner) Final indicator reporting date Are there rules for any agreed in-year milestones that result in payment? Are there any rules for partial achievement of the indicator at the final indicator period/date? 1b Friends and Family Test Early Implementation <commissioner to complete minimum % of contract value for acute providers minimum of 0.05% for other providers> Early implementation National CQUIN scheme Local provider response to local commissioners Check on implementation at end of October 2014 Provider One off activity October 2014 Full delivery of FFT across all services delivered by the provider as outlined in guidance Provider to demonstrate to commissioner that milestone has been met Response from providers to commissioners by 31 October 2014 For acute providers, there will be no payment for partial achievement. For other providers, partial implementation will result in receiving half of the funding available for the indicator (20% of the FFT CQUIN). There will be further guidance on the conditions for partial funding 16

17 Indicator number Indicator name Indicator weighting (% of CQUIN scheme available) Description of indicator Numerator Denominator Rationale for inclusion Data source Frequency of data collection FRIENDS AND FAMILY TEST: PHASED EXPANSION Organisation responsible for data collection Frequency of reporting to commissioner Baseline period/date Baseline value Final indicator period/date (on which payment is based) Final indicator value (payment threshold) Rules for calculation of payment due at final indicator period/date (including evidence to be supplied to commissioner) Final indicator reporting date Are there rules for any agreed in-year milestones that result in payment? Are there any rules for partial achievement of the indicator at the final indicator period/date? 1c for mental health and community health providers Friends and Family Test - Phased Expansion <commissioner to complete minimum % of contract value> Phased expansion National CQUIN scheme Local provider response to local commissioners Check on implementation at end of January 2015 Provider One off December 2014 Full delivery of the nationally set milestones Provider to demonstrate to commissioner that milestones have been met Response from providers to commissioners by 31 December

18 Indicator number Indicator name Indicator weighting (% of CQUIN scheme available) Description of indicator Numerator Denominator FRIENDS AND FAMILY TEST: PHASED EXPANSION 1c for ambulance service providers Friends and Family Test - Phased Expansion <commissioner to complete minimum % of contract value> Phased expansion Rationale for inclusion National CQUIN scheme Data source Local provider response to local commissioners Frequency of data collection Check on implementation at end of April 2015 Organisation responsible for data collection Frequency of reporting to commissioner Baseline period/date Baseline value Final indicator period/date (on which payment is based) Final indicator value (payment threshold) Rules for calculation of payment due at final indicator period/date (including evidence to be supplied to commissioner) Final indicator reporting date Are there rules for any agreed in-year milestones that result in payment? Are there any rules for partial achievement of the indicator at the final indicator period/date? Provider One off March 2015 Full delivery of the nationally set milestones Provider to demonstrate to commissioner that milestones have been met Response from providers to commissioners by end March

19 FRIENDS AND FAMILY TEST: INCREASED RESPONSE RATE FFT IN ACUTE PROVIDERS Indicator number 2 Indicator name Indicator weighting (% of CQUIN scheme available) Description of indicator Numerator Denominator Rationale for inclusion Data source Frequency of data collection Organisation responsible for data collection Frequency of reporting to commissioner Baseline period/date Friends and Family Test Increased or Maintained Response Rate <commissioner to complete minimum % of contract value> Increased or maintained response rate National CQUIN scheme Provider submission via UNIFY2 data collection system Monthly return Provider Monthly See below Baseline value See below Final indicator period/date (on which Q4 in 2014/15 payment is based) Final indicator value (payment A response rate for Quarter 4 that is at least threshold) 20% for A&E services and at least 30% for inpatient services Final indicator reporting date Data available by end of April 2015 (for Q4) Are there rules for any agreed in-year milestones that result in payment? Are there any rules for partial achievement of the indicator at the final indicator period/date? Yes see below No Milestones Date/period milestone relates to Quarter 1 Quarter 4 Rules for achievement of milestones (including evidence to be supplied to commissioner) A response rate for Quarter 1 that is at least 15% for A&E services and at least 25% for inpatient services A response rate for Quarter 4 that is at least 20% for A&E services and at least 30% for inpatient services Date milestone to be reported 31 July % 30 April % Milestone weighting (% of CQUIN scheme available) 19

20 FRIENDS AND FAMILY TEST: INCREASED RESPONSE RATE FFT IN ACUTE PROVIDERS Indicator number 3 Indicator name Indicator weighting (% of CQUIN scheme available) Description of indicator Numerator Denominator Rationale for inclusion Data source Frequency of data collection Organisation responsible for data collection Frequency of reporting to commissioner Baseline period/date Baseline value Final indicator period/date (on which payment is based) Final indicator value (payment threshold) Friends and Family Test Increased Response Rate in acute inpatient services <commissioner to complete minimum 0.05% of contract value> Increased response rate National CQUIN scheme Provider submission via UNIFY2 data collection system Monthly return Provider Monthly See below See below March 2015 A response rate of 40% (or more) for the month of March 2015 Final indicator reporting date Are there rules for any agreed in-year milestones that result in payment? Are there any rules for partial achievement of the indicator at the final indicator period/date? Data available by end of April 2015 (for March 2015) No No 20

21 The table below sets out how the CQUIN for FFT varies according to the type of provider 1a. Implementation of staff FFT (NHS trusts only) 1b. Early implementation of patient FFT Acute provider Inpatient A&E Maternity Outpatient & day case Community services provider Mental health provider Ambulance 30% 30% 30% 30% 15% 40% 40% 40% 1c. Full implementation of patient FFT across all areas 2. Response rates in A&E and inpatient 3. Response rates in inpatient Total payable CQUIN 40% 15% 30% 30% 30% 100% 100% 100% 100% 21

22 6. NHS Safety Thermometer GOAL: To measure and reduce harm. The power of the NHS Safety Thermometer lies in allowing frontline teams to measure how safe their services are and to deliver improvement locally. The data can also be aggregated to measure improvement at a regional and national level. INDICATORS: The CQUIN will incentivise achievement of a locally agreed improvement goal. Organisations are recommended to prioritise improvement in pressure ulcer prevalence. DATA SOURCE: Providers must undertake a survey on one day per month, of all appropriate patients, using the NHS Safety Thermometer tool, to collect data on pressure ulcers, falls, new venous thromboembolism (VTE) and urinary tract infection (in patients with a catheter). Due to the removal of the separate national VTE CQUIN, it is no longer necessary to separate out the VTE indicator data, so the data collection should include VTE data as originally intended. PRIORITISING PRESSURE ULCER PREVALENCE: Based on the existing evidence from national data, it is likely that most organisations will find that the majority of the harm they measure using the NHS Safety Thermometer is represented by pressure ulcers. Where applicable, we therefore recommend that the measure for the 2014/15 improvement CQUIN is the prevalence of all pressure ulcers as measured using the P3 measure in the NHS Safety Thermometer. Pressure ulcers originate across and indeed outside of the health and social care system. No distinction should be made between old ( present on admission ) and new (developed after 72 hours of admission) pressure ulcers for the purposes of this CQUIN. Provider organisations should work with their partners across their local health and social care system to address the causes of pressure ulcers and reduce their prevalence, regardless of source. The importance of this cross-boundary working is emphasised by current NHS Safety Thermometer results which suggest that on average around 75 per cent of patients with pressure ulcers are recorded as not being acquired whilst the patient was in the care of the current provider. The pressure ulcer CQUIN should therefore be considered in the context of all relevant providers in a local health community with a view to supporting joint working of organisations across a patient pathway. For CQUIN incentives to achieve the best possible outcomes, they must be set at realistic but stretching levels. Evidence from the NHS Safety Thermometer pilot suggests that it is possible to achieve a 50 per cent reduction in pressure ulcer prevalence within one year using strong leadership, high quality evidence (NICE guidelines), improvement materials (resources are available from the Harm Free 22

23 Care programme) and integration of the goal into local change plans particularly if implemented across the health and social care sector. This evidence should be used as a guide when setting local pressure ulcer improvement goals. Where health communities have already made substantial improvements, CQUIN incentives should ensure continuous improvement rather than resting on their laurels, conforming to the realistic but stretching principle outlined earlier. For extremely high performing organisations, those that are very low outliers in the national data, or alternatively small providers where very few patients are included in each monthly survey, a time between measure may be appropriate. This incentivises achievement of a goal based on the number of days between single incidences of pressure ulcers. More information is available in last year s Delivering the NHS Safety Thermometer CQUIN 2013/14 at NEXT STEPS FOR PROVIDERS AND COMMISSIONERS: Both providers and commissioners will need to understand where the NHS Safety Thermometer CQUIN is applicable 6, how to review the quality of the data generated and how to discuss local, national and setting-specific data in order to set realistic, but stretching, improvement goals in relation to an organisation s current baseline NHS Safety Thermometer data. The commissioner and provider should agree their local improvement goal. This discussion should include: provider and commissioner clinical leads; provider and commissioner contracts or business managers (with responsibility for CQUIN management); and provider and commissioner analysts or audit specialists (including the person responsible for submitting data). To support cross-boundary working it may be appropriate to hold these discussions jointly with all relevant providers rather than with each provider in isolation. We recommend that you have the following materials and information on hand: your local NHS Safety Thermometer and data; the local description of the data collection method; and the NHS Quality Observatories web materials including the tool for calculating special cause and medians 7. We recommend that the commissioner requires a joint improvement plan owned as a minimum by all relevant providers in their health community incentivised by CQUIN and with every effort made to engage other providers, including social care. This should be based on local intelligence (eg RCA investigations completed in the past six months) that identifies where, when, how and why pressure ulcers are most commonly arising, so that improvement efforts can be focused effectively. 6 See table at Appendix A of Delivering the NHS Safety Thermometer CQUIN 2013/14, available at

24 We recommend that commissioners visit providers on a quarterly basis to work with them on the process for data collection, as this will assist in ensuring high data quality and validation of the data collection. ASSESSING ACHIEVEMENT OF THE CQUIN INCENTIVE: Feedback from the NHS Safety Thermometer improvement CQUIN in 2013/14 suggests that organisations found the rules for demonstrating improvement via special cause variation in two separate six-month periods within the same year quite complex and potentially restrictive. In response, for 2014/15, commissioners should use an organisation s median pressure ulcer prevalence for the six months from October 2013 to March 2014 to set their baseline value for CQUIN purposes. To enable contract discussions prior to the end of this six-month period, organisations should agree a reduction goal based on the projected median and amend that, if appropriate, once the actual median for October 2013 to March 2014 is known. They should set a goal for reducing this prevalence as described above, although we recommend a goal of 50 per cent reduction. So if an organisation s median prevalence is 6 per cent, we would recommend a goal of 3 per cent. Where organisations have already demonstrated significant improvement during 2013/14, as some have, this should be taken into account when setting goals for 2014/15 to ensure that they are not required to maintain an unachievable improvement trajectory. The final period for the purposes of judging whether an organisation has reached their goal should be the final five months of the financial year 2014/15, from November to March. If an organisation demonstrates a re-set median according to special cause variation, for the last five months of 2014/15, then it will have qualified for incentive payment. In other words, if the last five monthly data points to 31 March 2015 are below the baseline median value from the corresponding period in 2013/14, then the organisation has achieved improvement and the median value should be re-set. These rules replace those for setting the baseline and calculating CQUIN payment that were published on page 21 of the Delivering the NHS Safety Thermometer CQUIN 2013/14 guidance 8. If the median is re-set but not to the same extent as the desired goal (for example 4 per cent rather than 3 per cent), partial payment is appropriate (see the Improvement goal specification below for partial achievement payment). SUPPORTING INFORMATION: While the rules about setting the baseline and assessing the achievement of the CQUIN have changed as set out above, other information in the Delivering the NHS Safety Thermometer CQUIN 2013/14 guidance 6, such as information on assessing whether special cause variation has occurred, set out on pages and guidance about which services should be included and excluded, in Appendix A, are still valid. The guidance also explains the broad five-step process to support commissioners and providers to determine: the applicability of the NHS Safety Thermometer to their organisations; the quality of their baseline data; the baseline performance; the scope

25 for improvement; and appropriate application of the CQUIN goals available. There is also a monitoring tool available to support calculation of baseline performance, detect special cause and calculate CQUIN payment 9. CQUIN INCENTIVES FOR OTHER SAFETY THERMOMETER CONTENT: As outlined above, reduction in pressure ulcers is considered the most appropriate area for the NHS Safety Thermometer improvement CQUIN incentives. However, for some providers, it may be considered more appropriate to look at alternative measures if, for example, pressure ulcers are not the most prevalent harm recorded via the NHS Safety Thermometer. If alternatives are being investigated, the following issues should be considered. All NHS Safety Thermometer items are collected on a whole community basis. The principles outlined above, namely of incentives applied to all relevant providers and jointly owned improvement plans, should also apply. The relatively low proportion of patients with one of the other three harms at the point of monthly survey may make it difficult to distinguish variation from improvement in all but the largest providers. VTE risk assessment is considered a standard aspect of care that should not be incentivised. Where commissioners wish to incentivise improvement in VTE outcome, the incidence methods used for calculation of the NHS Outcomes Framework measure 10 may be less affected by changes in care provision (eg more outpatient VTE treatment) than the NHS Safety Thermometer. A set reduction target for use of catheters could be counter-productive, as there will be genuine clinical need for an unknown proportion of patients. The NHS Safety Thermometer uses a pragmatic measurement of catheter plus current antibiotics rather than direct identification of catheter-associated urinary tract infection. Incentivising reductions could be counter-productive as there will be genuine clinical need for both the catheter and the antibiotics for an unknown proportion of patients. Successful falls and injury prevention across the whole community relies on commissioners providing adequate access to NICE recommended interventions 11 including specialist falls clinics, home hazard assessments and strength and balance training. Incentivising providers would be appropriate only where commissioners are

26 confident they have fully implemented the Falls and Bone Health Commissioning toolkit 12 and joint local improvement plans would need to include general practice s/dh_

27 NHS SAFETY THERMOMETER IMPROVEMENT GOAL SPECIFICATION (NOT MANDATORY ORGANISATIONS CAN SET AN ALTERNATIVE NHS SAFETY THERMOMETER IMPROVEMENT GOAL) Indicator number 2.1 Indicator name Indicator weighting (% of CQUIN scheme available) Description of indicator Numerator Denominator Rationale for inclusion Data source Frequency of data collection Organisation responsible for data collection Frequency of reporting to commissioner Baseline period/date Baseline value Final indicator period/date (on which payment is based) NHS Safety Thermometer <commissioner to complete minimum 0.125% of contract value> <Reduction in the prevalence of pressure ulcers> (non-mandatory, commissioners may agree a different improvement goal if pressure ulcer improvement is not appropriate) The number of patients recorded as having a category 2-4 pressure ulcer (old or new) as measured using the NHS Safety Thermometer on the day of each monthly survey Total number of patients surveyed on the day National CQUIN scheme Provider submission to the Information Centre which publishes the data at One day per month <to agree locally which dates> Provider Monthly Median of six consecutive monthly data points up to 31 March 2014 <commissioner to complete> Median of local data calculated as described above. National pressure ulcer prevalence data from the NHS Safety Thermometer suggests a prevalence of around 5% for all pressure ulcers (old and new) for the 2013/14 year to date Median of five consecutive monthly data points up to 31 March For this median value to count as improvement the five consecutive monthly data points have to be below the baseline median value (i.e. demonstrate improvement according to special cause variation rules) 27

28 Final indicator value (payment threshold) <commissioner to complete, 50% reduction from baseline pressure ulcer prevalence recommended> Rules for calculation of payment due at final indicator period/date (including evidence to be supplied to commissioner) Note the requirement for the median value to have been re-set following special cause variation rules. This means that for the final indicator value to demonstrate improvement, it must be constructed from five consecutive monthly data points up to 31 March 2015 all of which are at a lower level than the baseline median value Achievement of 95% or greater of the agreed improvement goal (shown through special cause 13,14 ) will trigger full payment of the CQUIN Final indicator reporting date NHS Safety Thermometer data for March 2015 will be available on 15 April 2015 Are there rules for any agreed in-year No. To reduce complexity, organisations milestones that result in payment? should be assessed on their achievement at Are there any rules for partial achievement of the indicator at the final indicator period/date? year end as set out above A sliding scale of payment for partial achievement of the improvement goal should operate so that improvement from baseline performance (shown through special cause) that does not fully meet the target is still rewarded to some extent: achievement of 80-95% of target = 40% payment achievement of 60-79% of target = 30% payment achievement of 40-59% of target = 20% payment achievement of 20-39% of target = 10% payment achievement of <20% of target = 0% payment

29 7. Dementia and delirium GOAL: To incentivise the identification of patients with dementia and delirium, alone and in combination alongside their other medical conditions, to prompt appropriate referral and follow up after they leave hospital and to ensure that hospitals deliver high quality care to people with dementia and support their carers. INDICATORS: per cent of funding for: undertaking case finding for at least 90 per cent of patients aged 75 and over admitted as an emergency for >72 hours; ensuring that, where patients are identified as potentially having dementia or delirium, at least 90 per cent are appropriately assessed; and ensuring that, where appropriate, patients with dementia are referred on to specialist services per cent of funding for ensuring sufficient clinical leadership of dementia within providers and appropriate training of staff per cent of funding for ensuring carers of people with dementia feel adequately supported. DATA SOURCE: Providers must collect and submit data to UNIFY2 on: the total number of patients aged 75 and over, who were admitted as emergencies and stayed for more than 72 hours; of these, how many a) were asked the dementia case finding question, or b) had a clinical diagnosis of delirium using a locally developed protocol, or c) had a known diagnosis of dementia? of these, how many should have undergone a diagnostic assessment and how many did? of those who received a diagnostic assessment, how many should have been referred on to other services or back to their GP and how many were then referred in accordance with local pathways agreed with commissioners? Providers must submit their planned training programme before the start of the year and report at the end of the year on progress against these plans. Providers must undertake a monthly audit of carers of people with dementia and report the findings to their Board at least twice per year. The content of this audit is for local determination but must include a question on whether carers of people with dementia feel adequately supported. The clinical diagnosis of delirium should be made using a locally agreed protocol. Assessment tools which might be useful include: a) a validated delirium diagnosis tool (such as the Confusion Assessment Method); b) a brief test of attention (eg saying the calendar months backwards or counting from twenty down to one; or c) the validated single question in delirium asked to someone who knows the person well ( do you think [patient s name] has been more confused in the past three days? ) 29

30 FIND, ASSESS, INVESTIGATE AND REFER (FAIR): There are three separate stages to this element of the CQUIN: Find The case finding of at least 90 per cent of all patients aged 75 and over following emergency admission to hospital, using the dementia case finding question and identifying all those with delirium (using a clinical assessment of delirium) and dementia (that is, with a known diagnosis of dementia). Patients with an existing diagnosis of dementia do not require further assessment but should have a diagnostic review if clinically indicated. Patients with a clinical diagnosis of delirium should move straight to assessment and investigation. Patients with neither should be asked the dementia awareness question (asking the patient or another such as family or professional caregiver have you/has the patient been more forgetful in the past 12 months to the extent that it has significantly affected your/their daily life? ) This has to be completed within 72 hours of admission. Assess and Investigate The diagnostic assessment and investigation of at least 90 per cent of those patients who have been assessed as at risk of dementia from the dementia case finding question and/or presence of delirium. The provider should carry out a diagnostic assessment including investigations to determine whether the presence of dementia is possible. Refer The referral of at least 90 per cent of clinically appropriate cases for specialist diagnosis of dementia and appropriate follow up, in accordance with local pathways agreed with commissioners. This may include referral to an old age psychiatry liaison team, with the person assessed in hospital, or it could be referral to a memory clinic or to the GP to alert that an assessment had raised the possibility of the presence of dementia. Depending on local services, the patient can be seen as an inpatient or outpatient by a geriatrician, nurse specialist/nurse consultant, general physician with interest in dementia, clinical psychologist or neurologist. Any pathways involving onward referral from the acute setting for conditions not related to the original admission must be agreed with the commissioner. 30

31 Dementia CQUIN: FAIR (Find, Assess and Investigate, Refer) All emergency admissions aged over 75 No known dementia Clinical Diagnosis of delirium no yes Known dementia Diagnostic review, if indicated Positive 3 Referral Dementia pathway 1 Has the person been more forgetful in the last 12 months to the extent that it has significantly affected their daily life? yes no Diagnostic assessment 2 Care as usual Inconclusive Negative Feedback to GP 1 Find 2 Assess and Investigate 3 Refer NEXT STEPS FOR PROVIDERS AND COMMISSIONERS: Providers will need to ensure their data collection systems are fully implemented before 1 April Both providers and commissioners will need to understand where to access the data and how to review the quality of the data generated. Providers will need to ensure they have a named lead clinician for dementia and that this role is clearly documented in the individual s job plan. Providers and commissioners will need to agree the content of the carers audit and when results will be presented to the provider Board, as well as how they will receive feedback on these audits and any actions resulting from them. SUPPORTING INFORMATION: A range of further resources are available on dementia care in hospital, including: NHS Confederation Report - Acute Awareness Alzheimer's Society - Counting the Cost CCQI Audit of Dementia in the General Hospital ntia.aspx Alzheimer s Society agitation guidelines D=

32 CQUIN TEMPLATES DEMENTIA FIND, ASSESS, INVESTIGATE & REFER Indicator number 3.1 Indicator name Dementia Find, Assess, Investigate and Refer Indicator weighting (% of CQUIN scheme available) Description of indicator Numerator Denominator Rationale for inclusion Data source Frequency of data collection Organisation responsible for data collection Frequency of reporting to commissioner Baseline period/date <commissioner to complete minimum 0.075%> The proportion of patients aged 75 and over to whom case finding is applied following emergency admission, the proportion of those identified as potentially having dementia who are appropriately assessed and the number referred on to specialist services. Each patient admission can be included only once in each indicator but not necessarily in the same month, as the identification, assessment and referral stages may take place in different months 1) Number of patients >75 admitted as an emergency who are reported as having: known diagnosis of dementia or clinical diagnosis of delirium, or who have been asked the dementia case finding question, excluding those for whom the case finding question cannot be completed for clinical reasons (eg coma). 2) Number of above patients reported as having had a diagnostic assessment including investigations 3) Number of above patients referred for further diagnostic advice in line with local pathways agreed with commissioners 1) Number of patients >75 admitted as an emergency, with length of stay >72 hours, excluding those for whom the case finding question cannot be completed for clinical reasons (eg coma) 2) Number of above patients with clinical diagnosis of delirium or who answered positively on the dementia case finding question 3) Number of above patients who underwent a diagnostic assessment for dementia in whom the outcome was either positive or inconclusive National CQUIN scheme UNIFY2 Monthly Provider Quarterly 32